EU official says China’s financial sector largely closed
China’s financial sector is not open enough to foreign participation and key obstacles remain to investment, a top European Union official said Tuesday. “Chinese banks are some of the biggest and most powerful banks in the world,” Michel Barnier, European commissioner for internal market and services, told reporters. Barnier spoke at the end of a visit to China for talks with officials, including Finance Minister Lou Jiwei. The 28-nation EU and China announced in late November the launch of negotiations for a landmark investment agreement, even as they clashed bitterly last year over commercial disputes ranging from Chinese solar panels to European wine.
China lifts ban on foreign consoles, but will consumers bite?
Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony can now manufacture consoles for the Chinese market, but will consumers care when the PC scene currently runs on games that are available for free or next to nothing? The China State Council has lifted a 14-year-old ban on the sale of foreign game consoles, allowing government-approved, foreign-invested enterprises to manufacture within the 29km2 FTZ and then sell domestically, according to a report from Reuters. Nintendo had already got around the ban with the Chinese iQue brand, cramming a 1996 Nintendo 64 home console into a single control pad for the 2003 iQue Player, and rebranding 2012’s Nintendo 3DS XL as the iQue 3DS XL later that year. But Sony and Microsoft are used to selling their consoles at a loss and recouping the difference on games, a dangerous tactic when punters are put off by the high price of official software.
Adiyiah to decide club future soon – Agent
The 2009 Fifa youth star is set for a move to Russian, China or Turkey in the next few days
Read More →Chinese crystal meth makers ‘used GSK cold medicine’
Some crystal methamphetamine seized in a huge drug bust in China used the popular cold medicine Contac, manufactured by beleaguered British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), state media reported Tuesday. The raid in the southern province of Guangdong, announced by state media last week, netted three tonnes of “crystal meth” in Lufeng city, said to account for one-third of China’s production of the drug.
Hong Kong arrests nine over possible match-fixing
Nine people have been arrested over alleged match-fixing in multiple football fixtures in Hong Kong, the city’s anti-corruption watchdog said Tuesday. “Nine persons, including professional football players, were arrested for alleged bribery in rigging the results of football matches involving a local football club,” the Independent Commission Against Corruption said in a statement released late Tuesday, without specifying names of the players or the club. “Enquiries revealed that the sponsor’s representative and the executive officer might have offered advantages to the players of the football club as rewards for their participation in rigging football match results,” it said. “It’s not a Hong Kong issue, it’s a worldwide issue.
China suspends ban on video game consoles after more than a decade
By Paul Carsten BEIJING (Reuters) – China has temporarily lifted a 14-year-old ban on selling video game consoles, paving the way for Sony Corp, Microsoft Corp and Nintendo Co Ltd to enter the world’s third largest video game market in terms of revenue. China saw video game revenues grow by more than a third in 2012 to nearly $14 billion last year, but console makers are likely to face an uphill battle for market share in a country where a whole generation has grown up without a PlayStation, Xbox or Wii and where free PC and mobile games dominate. “If Sony and Microsoft want to expand in China they need to think of changing their business model, and study the success of Internet gaming market providers where games are free but they charge money from operating games,” said Roger Sheng, research director at tech research firm Gartner.
Hong Kong movie mogul Run Run Shaw dies
HONG KONG (AP) — Run Run Shaw built a Hong Kong movie and TV empire that nurtured rising talents like actor Chow Yun-fat and director John Woo, inspired Hollywood filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino and produced the 1982 sci-fi classic “Blade Runner.”
Taiwan’s Acer looks to Internet trading
Taiwanese computer maker Acer said Tuesday it has made its first major investment since overhauling its top management late last year, acquiring a 15.6 percent stake in a PChome subsidiary. “Under the ICT industry’s paradigm shift Acer is going beyond hardware-based thinking; Acer termed the deal as part of the “corporate transformation” under way, led by the new management headed by Shih. Then Acer appointed Jason Chen, a former senior executive of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, as both CEO and president, effective from January 1.
Hong Kong media mogul Run Run Shaw dies at 106
By Grace Li and Alice Woodhouse HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong media mogul Sir Run Run Shaw, who created an empire in Asia spanning movies to television, died on Tuesday at the age of 106, his company said. Shaw died peacefully at his home in Hong Kong, surrounded by his family, his company, Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), said in a statement. One of Hong Kong cinema’s defining figures, Shaw popularized Chinese kung fu films in the West and helped turn the former British colony into a “Hollywood East” over an 80-year career. He set up Hong Kong’s biggest free-to-air television operator, TVB, in 1967 and served as its executive chairman until 2011, helping to shape the city’s media culture.
China to allow fully private banks this year
China will allow three to five fully private banks to be set up this year as part of efforts to further open up the sector, the banking regulator said. At a work conference on Monday, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said it will allow private capital either to take part in restructuring existing banks or set up new ones at their own risk, according to a statement. “The first batch of three to five private banks will be set up on a trial basis,” the CBRC said, adding they will be approved when conditions are “mature”. Senior bank officers must be approved by the CBRC.
